The Play and the Thing: A Phenomenology of Shakespearean Theatre

Shakespeare’s Hamlet insisted that ‘the play’s the thing’; Edmund Husserl’s philosophy advised us to (re)turn our attention ‘back to the things themselves!’ How might a careful, detailed exploration of the basic ‘things’ of Shakespearean theatre illuminate his plays in performance? Taking up this question, The Play and the Thing offers the first book-length phenomenological study of Shakespearean stage craft, from the ground up. The book approaches the study of Shakespearean theatre by atte...